Lost dreams
by Skyforger
Summary: [AU] Civil war has left ORB devastated, government has lost all its influence and two major Syndicates led by Azrael and Seiran have taken over most of ORB. But what about these three strange men? [KxL] [AxM] [SxL] [Chapter 2 Up]
1. Chapter 1

A/N:

This takes place in AU, PLANTs and coordinators don't exist, but several wars have taken place across the globe, so the situation is a mess. Also Shinn is the same age as Athrun and Kira here (19). Hope you will like it.

Special thanks to The-Dark-Spirit182 for proof-reading my horrendous writing :P

**XOXOXOXOX**

**Lost dreams**

A young man was walking down the street, dressed in a black coat that reached down almost to his knees, hands placed in his pockets. The black pants he wore seemed to be of high quality, as well as his black shoes. It was late autumn and it was pretty cold outside, several brown leaves were flying in the air carried by the chilling breeze that had just risen.

The man stopped and lifted his head, seemingly enjoying the sharp gusts of wind rushing trough his almost shoulder length dark blue hair. He shifted his gaze towards the sea and observed the sunset, which caused the water to light up in a crimson color. His emerald green eyes were hidden behind black sunglasses, which he carried despite it getting dark outside.

A small grin found its way on Athrun's face as he watched the sunset, listening to the hush sound of the waves clashing against the distant shore. He liked this moment of peace. Loud voices coming from the nearby building interrupted his peaceful moment. He slowly turned his head and saw four men dressed in grey suits coming out of a small store, the shopkeeper following them, desperate look on his face.

"Please! I beg of you! Don't take it all, I have a family to feed!"

One of the men turned around and shot a deadly glare at the shopkeeper, making him fall silent. "Shut up old man. You know how it works. You run a shop – you pay the taxes. You are lucky that you had enough money for that. If you want more money you should sell more stuff. Now get away from me!" The man pushed the shopkeeper away with force, causing him to trip and fall down backwards, colliding against his shop door.

"Just remember – you better have the same amount next month if you don't want some accident happening to you or your family" the man announced with evil pleasure in his voice and grinning widely, revealing a row of white teeth. He and his three buddies turned around and left, leaving the now sobbing shopkeeper behind. Athrun's hands clinched in to fists inside his pockets as he watched the scene unfold before him.

His eyes could probably radiate light from the flames that burned inside them if they wouldn't be covered with the black sunglasses. Painful memories of his tragic past flooded his mind.

_Flashback_

_Little Athrun, six years of age, was hiding behind the door and carefully observing the event through a small gap. His mother and father were standing in the room near a table and were talking to some dark figures occupying the same room. His mother was crying and father was franticly trying to explain something to the strangers in a trembling voice._

"_Please…we don't have that much. Our shop doesn't bring in that much money, we simply can't pay that much! Why don't you understand?"_

_One of the people who stood up and stepped closer to Patrick and grinned evilly at him appeared to be a woman with black hair. "You are the one who doesn't understand. If you can't pay the money, then you are not useful to Mr. Azrael. You understand what that means, don't you? You already skipped last month's payment so either you pay up, or…" She reached inside her jacket and pulled out a shiny gun and pointed it towards Patrick. _

_Athrun's father nervously looked over his shoulder towards his crying wife and quickly looked towards the woman with the gun. "Look, I'm telling you, I simply don't have…"_

_A loud noise echoed trough the rooms, making little Athrun cover his ears and close his eyes. _

"_Patrick! PATRICK!"_

_His mother shrieks drew his attention once again and he saw his father falling to the ground and his mother quickly running to his side, shocked look on her face, kneeling beside him._

"_Mommy! Daddy!" Athrun opened the door behind which he was hiding and rushed towards his parents as fast as his little legs could carry him. "Daddy?" He tugged his fathers sleeve, but it caused no reaction from him, only his mothers cries got louder. "Daddy? Daddy?" Tears were starting to fall down Athrun's face as he turned towards his mother. "Mommy, why is daddy sleeping?" _

_Leonore didn't respond and only pulled her son in to a hug and started to cry even louder, making little Athrun cry even more as well. The woman looked down at the scenery without batting an eye, not even the smallest amount of pity could be seen in her cold, purple eyes as she watched the heart wrenching scene before her._

_She turned around and started to walk towards the door. Just before exiting she turned back and looked towards one of the other man accompanying her "Burn this place to the ground" she said in a clod voice before vacating the room._

_When Athrun opened his green eyes he could see men in white overcoats leaning over him, sirens could be heard nearby accompanied with flashing blue and red lights. The dark night sky above the city was lit by a bright light coming from one of the houses, a pillar of smoke emerging from it._

"_Quickly, bring the child in to the hospital, he might be poisoned from the smoke!"_

"_What about the woman that was covering him?"_

"…_she didn't make it. She died from the burns she received…apparently she tried to cover her child from the flames…"_

"_I see…"_

_End Flashback_

Athrun was shaking from anger these faint memories of thirteen years ago awoke within the depths of his heart. He slowly resumed his walk, eyeing the city with a depressing look on his face. Ever since the two global wars and the ORB civil war that followed the situation was a complete disaster. The civil war that had ended one year before Athrun's birth had left ORB in a state of chaos.

As a result the leading gangs and criminals had seen the opportunity and mobilized themselves, merging together and forming alliances to increase their effectiveness. As a result the main part of the ORB ended up being controlled by Seirans and Azraels – two bloodthirsty bastards who only cared how to get more benefit from the situation and rake in more money.

The citizens were living in constant fear, uncertain of their future, barely getting on with their lives. The government had little to no power and jurisdiction at all. Police was helpless, Athrun knew that all too well. At the age of 16 he had joined the police only to find that out. He wanted to catch these syndicate leaders, to stop all their activities. He was naïve back then.

There were only a handful of policemen who were interested in stopping the criminals. Most were bribed and worked for either Azrael or Seiran. Athrun conducted investigations, only to have all the evidence lost or rejected in court. He caught numerous culprits only for them to be released the next day. He got shot three times and stabbed even more, he lost a lot of friends who also were good policemen. And in the end it didn't matter at all. Not one bit.

That's why he quit the police. It was useless to struggle that way, since the name "Law" was nothing more than a mocking phrase in the world they lived in, unless it came from one of the gang leaders. But Athrun was sure he will get his revenge one day. Soon... at least he hoped so. The blue haired boy sighed with a heavy heart and looked at his watch.

_6.45pm. might as well get going to meet Kira and Shinn. _He slowly walked the mostly empty streets, eyeing the surroundings. Disgust entered his heart every time he saw the activities of some gang members. This was the so called 'twilight zone' of the city – neither Azrael nor Seiran had this zone under control. And this made it even worse – both gangs were roaming the area occasionally, bringing even more terror and suffering to the people. As he turned to his right he was met by three men across the corner, who turned their attention to him.

"Look at what we have here guys" one of them exclaimed with a sinister look on his face. Judging from the way he was talking and standing, he was obviously drunk. Athrun examined the three without the least amount of worries in his mind.

"Hmmm… you look pretty wealthy. Care to 'share' something?" The second one laughed at his own joke. The third thug pulled out a knife from the pocket of his dirty coat and pointed it towards Athrun without saying anything, only grinning dimly, with a look in his eyes that made one doubt his sanity.

Suddenly few coughs caught the attention of all four, coming from a man lying on the ground behind those three. The drunken one turned around and glared angrily at the man. "Stay quiet! We are not done with you!" he kicked the man in the stomach, which caused the man turn to his side, wincing in pain. Athrun's eyes were burning with fire again, hidden by the black sunglasses.

**XOXOXOXOX**

The small stage was located not far from the port, which made it quite vulnerable to the harsh, cold winds that came from the seaside. It was clearly meant to be used at warmer times. At least after the building that once covered it collapsed, but the stage remained. The curtains that the small stage had were torn and covered with patches, reminding the brown haired man of something sad and long forgotten.

But the cold weather didn't stop people from gathering here at this time. And it didn't hold back Kira as well. Honestly he wouldn't care if it would be snowing outside, as long as he would get to listen to her singing. Her name was Lacus. One time Kira was accidentally passing by when she was performing here at other time and he felt fascinated by her singing and her beauty.

From that day forward he had eagerly waited for each time she would perform again, and he had always come to watch and listen. From what he had learned she was a student in the nearby University, and in her spare time she tried her best to help the orphanage and its little inhabitants. She would occasionally perform on this little stage near the port, in hopes to raise some money for the orphanage.

Although the people who came to listen to her singing were poor, the spirit of charity still lived in their hearts, and almost all of them offered some money after the 'concert', however small that amount might be. Kira had watched her face light up with true joy and thankfulness at each little offering the people brought, at which he could only smile.

She was such a kind person, and despite the fact that she obviously wasn't wealthy herself, she did all she could to help the orphans. Kira stood a bit further away from others, closer to the port, enjoying her angelic singing, admiring her beauty. Her long, pink hair and baby blue eyes, coupled with her gentle voice and slim body truly made her look like an angel in Kira's eyes. And her voice and song had the ability to put Kira's mind to rest, like a warm summer wind embracing him.

"Kira….Kira….Kira" the third call woke the said boy up from his daydreaming and he turned his head over his shoulder to see his best friend approaching him.

"Athrun" he nodded his head at his friend and turned his gaze back to his object of admiration. Athrun took a place beside his old friend and looked at his expression, then smiled a bit. He and Kira had been friends since the age of 7, when Kira's parents had adopted him. They were really nice people, despite the times they were living in. These kinds of people made Athrun believe that there still is hope for this world.

But Kira's parents had died three years ago in a car accident, leaving the two boys alone to take care of their lives, which they had managed to do quite well, despite all the sorrow. They shared the pain and hardship they went trough to gain a place in this world, and their friendship during this time had strengthened to one that could not be broken by anything.

Athrun was worried for Kira for a while now. Ever since his parents died it looked like he would never get out of his endless depression, despite the fact that he was managing very well otherwise. But that had changed ever since he had started to come to the concerts of this pink haired girl. At the thought of this Athrun chuckled a bit.

Kira looked at his friend with surprise, "Athrun?"

"Kira, it has been half a year since you are coming here and you still are. I'm not blind enough to think that it is only because of her singing. When are you going to talk to her?"

Kira blushed red and took one step backwards, eyeing his friends face, noticing the little spark of mischief in his emerald eyes. "I…I don't know Athrun. You think I should?"

Athrun sighed and leaned against a pile of crates and looked back in to Kira's purple orbs. "It's obvious you like her. And you even know for yourself that nothing is going to happen if you won't try to talk to her, I don't think she will come here to talk to you."

Kira scratched his head, looking a bit nervous "But, I…" He noticed a small stain on Athrun's sleeve, and his expression changed to a serious one in an instant. "Athrun, that's…?"

He pointed towards Athrun's sleeve. The blue haired boy turned his eyes in the direction Kira was pointing and looked for a second, then noticed the stain of blood on his sleeve and sighed. "Yes" his voice had gained a tone of sadness.

Kira turned his head towards the stage once again, sad expression on his face. "How many ?"

"Three"

"I see". Brunette sighed and placed his hands in his pockets, listening to Lacus singing. "I wonder how it would be…to live without all this… in peace."

Athrun turned his head towards the stage and listened to the singing, his eyes trailing of from reality, blank expression on his face. _Peace…_ He would love that. Not that he was complaining much about his life, no. His life was a pretty good one, but it's the suffering of the other people that plagued his mind.

"Say, Athrun"

Athrun turned his head towards his friend again, slowly exiting the trance he had been in to for a few moments. "Mhmm?"

Kira lowered his head, blank expression on his face. "If all the gangsters would disappear…if Azrael and Seiran would die…could people live normal lives again?"

Athrun looked up in the sky, thinking for a moment about these words. "I don't know. Perhaps. I certainly wouldn't get worse I think. After all that's why people like we…"

Kira nodded and sank in to thought again. _Normal life…mother, father…I miss you both…why did you have to leave me…_

"Kira, where is Shinn? I though he was with you."

Kira slowly looked over his shoulder and scanned the area behind him. "There. On the container."

Athrun followed his friend's sight and noticed a figure of a man sitting on a container, looking at the sea and nodded his head, before turning to Kira again. "You should go see her"

"Huh?" Kira blinked in surprise then realized the singing had stopped. He turned his head and noticed that almost all the people were going towards the stage and placing some coins in a small, wooden box held by Lacus, at which she smiled a gentle smile and thanked everybody. He nodded at Athrun and rushed towards the stage, leaving a smiling Athrun behind, his black coat flaunting in the wind.

Athrun smiled at his friend as he watched him hurry towards the stage, then turned around and started to walk towards the container on top of which was a figure of a raven-haired boy was sitting, legs over the ledge. The container was about two and a half meters high, but that didn't stop Athrun from easily jumping on it without making a sound, without even removing his hands from his pockets.

He walked up to the sitting boy without making the slightest of sounds and placed a hand on his shoulder. Shinn startled and momentarily looked over his shoulder, his hand reaching inside his coat. Red eyes met green ones and they stared at each other in silence for a moment. After few seconds Shinn pulled his hand out of his coat and turned his head towards the sea again, without saying a word.

He was dressed just like Athrun and Kira – black coat with black pants and shoes. The sun had almost disappeared behind the horizon and it was getting dark, because there were not many streetlights in the city. At least not working ones.

"We should go soon"

"Sure" Shinn answered, still gazing towards the sea. His face gained a pained expression, increasing his sad look "She…she loved the sea. She liked to play in the water when we went to the beach…" tears were forming in Shinn's red eyes as he was talking, trembling lightly. "She…she loved to collect seashells…to simply stare at ocean…she loved it…" Tears were falling down Shinn's face, as he gripped a pink seashell in his hand.

Athrun stood there in silence, listening to his friend's sorrowful voice. He hated it. It reminded him just how much suffering there was in this world. It reminded him of his family. He sighed and patted his friend on the shoulder. "Don't be like this Shinn. I'm…I'm sure Stellar wouldn't want you to be like this."

Shinn slammed his fist against the container, causing a loud echo fill the silent evening. "How can I know? Now I will never find out what she wanted! Damn it!" He slammed the container again, hugging the seashell close to his heart, tears falling down his cheeks, staining the material of his black trousers.

Athrun just stood behind Shinn in silence, feeling a bit of mist in his eyes as well at the sight of his mourning friend. It has already been almost four years since Stellar passed away, but Shinn could never forget her. He always carried a pink seashell around his neck – the one Stellar had liked the most. He had a picture of the blonde and him celebrating her sixteenth birthday at his home, placed in a frame made from polished ebony. She had loved the sea, and whenever Shinn went over to sea he always got depressed and sad, from the memories of the love he once had.

Shinn slowly stood up and shot a final glare at the ocean before turning his back to it, without even bothering to wipe the tears from his face. "Lets go home" he said in a quiet voice, hanging the seashell around his neck.

Athrun nodded and the two men gracefully jumped down from the container without any problems and started to walk towards the small stage in quiet, but Athrun stopped halfway. "Let's wait for a bit. Maybe Kira will finally gather the courage to speak to her."

Shinn nodded and leaned against a wooden box and turned his gaze towards the darkening sky. _Kira…I hope it ends better for you than it did for me and…Stellar. _"I will avenge her" he quietly muttered, his red eyes filled with anger and pain, determination in his silent voice. "When I find out who… they will pay. All of them will."

Athrun sighed and pulled out his black sunglasses. He didn't want anyone to see the sadness in his emerald eyes. "Yes…they will. I hope." He leaned against the same crate as Shinn and patiently started to wait for their friend to show up.

**XOXOXOXOX**

Kira was nervously standing few meters away from the stage, rocking back and forth on his heels, waiting for the majority of people to disappear. He was watching as the pink haired songstress collected the offerings, smiling a true, genuine smile at every person who came to her and slid a coin or two inside the little wooden box she held in her hands. When the last of the people were gone she turned towards a young, brown haired girl who stood behind her, her eyes shining with happiness.

"This was a good day, Milly. I hope we can at least fix the roof in the orphanage with this." The brown haired girl clasped her hand in excitement and bowed her head towards Lacus.

"Oh, Lacus, thank you so much! I don't know what I would do without you. If it were not for your help, the orphanage would have been closed long ago."

Lacus slowly shook her head and looked back at her friend cheerfully. "That's what friends are for right? And the people are also very helpful. We raised a lot of money today, despite it almost being winter. Besides" her tone got sadder "I also want to help all the children that have lost their parents…I also want to do everything I can to help the orphanage…your mother would hate if it would have to be closed."

"Yes…she would" Milly lowered her head, sad look in her blue eyes. Miriallia's mother used to run the orphanage for several years and she always tried her best to improve the lives of the numerous children that relied on her. But she had died in unknown circumstances five years ago, leaving then 14 year old Milly all alone, with the responsibility to take care of the orphans, while being one herself.

Lacus had been Milly's friend since childhood and had tried her best to help out in any way she could. And since many people had told her that she has a beautiful voice she had decided to try to make some money with it, organizing these little concerts of hers every now and then t raise some money for the orphanage. Without it the building would have surely collapsed and the kids would have died from starvation. And Milly was grateful from the depths of her heart for this.

"Milly, cheer up a bit, at least we did well tonight. We collected almost 500$, I'm sure that will be enough to fix the roof for the winter." Lacus smiled her warm smile at her friend and held forward the little wooden box. Milly nodded and smile returned to her face.

Seeing that all people were gone and the only ones that were left was Lacus and another girl that seemed to be her friend, Kira took in a deep breath and was about to step forward, but he stopped when he saw three men in grey suits coming up to the two girls.

"Good evening, ladies" one of them bowed in a sarcastic manner and approached Lacus with a grin on his face. Lacus gasped but stood firm, frightened expression on her face. Milly rushed over to her friends side, hanging on to Lacus shoulder. _Tolle…where are you?_

"Wha…what do you want?" Lacus tried to ask in a calm voice, yet it trembled a bit, and she took a step back once she saw the man stepping closer.

"My, what a rude young lady" His voice was cold, and his grin grew wider. "A nice, little thing you got going here. However, you forgot to ask Mr. Azrael for a permission to hold a concert here, so…" he took another step closer. Lacus held the little box with both hands close to her chest, fear evident in her eyes. "W…Why should I ask? T…this small stage doesn't belong to anyone."

The grin disappeared from man's face, it was replaced by a stern expression, his voice seemed to have lost the tone of sarcasm it held a moment ago. "Everything here belongs to Mr. Azrael, so..." he quickly reached forward and grabbed the little box from Lacus hands, causing her to scream lightly. He smashed the little lock on the box and looked inside, grin returning to his face.

"Not bad at all. Now then, if you will excuse me" He turned around and started to walk away, signaling his two men to leave as well.

"Please… don't do this…the children need the money…we…" Lacus was begging, her hands held up in a pleading manner.

"I don't care!" the man turned back and yelled, his voice sounding angry, his eyes radiating with anger. "You should be happy you are getting away with just this. If you don't want your precious orphanage burned to the ground you better stay quiet!"

Lacus broke down on her knees, her head bowed down, tears rolling down her cheeks, Milly kneeling beside her, angered look on her face, trying to hold back her tears that were gathering in her blue eyes as well. The man looked at both girls with disgust on his face, then turned around and hissed arrogantly before leaving the small stage, the other two accompanying him.

As Kira watched the three men leave he was lightly shaking from anger, his hand was gripping the gunstock of his pistol inside his pocket. His purple orbs were staring at the backs of the leaving men with a gaze that could kill. He was about to pull the gun out, but the sobs coming from the stage caught his attention and he turned towards the stage, releasing the handle of his gun. _Azrael…_ Kira took in a deep breath to calm down, trying to suppress the urge that told him to take out his gun and end the life of the three bastards that were leaving the scene. He sighed heavily and slowly started to walk towards the two girls.

"Lacus, Lacus… please…calm down…it…it will be alright". Milly was trying to calm the crying pink haired girl, barely holding back her own tears. She placed her hand on Lacus shoulder and felt that she was trembling slightly. Lacus shook her head, trying to stop the tears that couldn't stop forming in her blue eyes.

"No…it won't be alright. It won't! Now we can't even fix the roof for the winter." She slowly lifted her head and looked in to Milly's blue eyes. "What will happen to the children?" Her voice was filled with sadness and helplessness. "Without the money…how will they survive the winter? How?" Milly was about to answer something but was distracted by silent footsteps approaching from behind.

Both she and Lacus turned their heads and gasped as they saw a man dressed in black coming up to them. Milly stood up, facing the new stranger. "Wha…what do you want?" Her voice was trembling, obviously she was scared. Kira sighed and kneeled in front of Lacus, extending his hand towards her. "Please…don't cry." Lacus looked at the young man in front of her with surprise on her face, without knowing what to make out of this.

_Who…who is he? What does he want with us? Is he also from…?_ No, he didn't seem like the men from before. There was something in his purple eyes that caught her attention. They seemed sad, just like his voice. She didn't know why, but she felt like she could trust this young man with brown hair, dressed in black clothes. She slowly took Kira's arm and the young man helped her on his feet, a slight shade of pink appearing on his face.

"Thank you" Lacus nodded her head, and then looked in to his purple eyes with her blue ones. "Who…who are you?"

Kira scratched his head with his left hand, extending his right one towards the beautiful girl in front of him. "I…I'm Kira. Nice to meet you".

Lacus shook his hand, nodding her head. "I'm Lacus. Nice to meet you, Kira." Then she turned towards Milly. "And this is my best friend – Miriallia". Kira shook hands with the said girl, and noticed she was staring at him with disbelief, which made him feel uncomfortable.

Kira turned his gaze towards Lacus again. "I…I saw what happened here. Is…is there anything I can help with?" Lacus looked down, sad expression on her face, slightly shaking her head. "We…we were collecting money for the orphanage, it needs to be fixed for the winter. But now…" A single tear rolled down her beautiful face again. Kira smiled sadly, then slid his hand inside his coat and when he pulled it out again he held a white, thick envelope in his fingers.

"Here" he took Lacus hand, pressing the envelope in to her hands. Lacus looked at the brown haired boy with surprise, not understanding what this was about. Kira turned his head away, looking a bit embarrassed. "I…I should go now. It was nice meeting you, Lacus. I…I hope to see you again." He turned around and slowly walked away, looking over his shoulder, admiring the beauty of the pink haired girl, slowly disappearing in the darkness of night.

Milly watched the strange boy leave as came up to Lacus. _Is it really him? No… it couldn't be. Why would a person like that be out here? Talking to some like us?_ Her attention was drawn by the envelope in Lacus hands. "Lacus?" she tugged her friend by her sleeve to get her attention.

"Mhmm?" Lacus slowly turned her head towards her friend, trying to push the thoughts of Kira out of her mind.

"Will you open it?"

Lacus stared at Milly for a few seconds before she realized what her friend is talking about. "Oh…" she had completely forgotten about the envelope, she was too busy thinking about the brown haired boy. She slowly opened the envelope and looked inside, Milly staring over Lacus shoulder. Her blue eyes widened and the hand holding the envelope started to shake lightly. Milly looked like she was struck by a lightning.

"Wha…why…?" Lacus shook her head in disbelief, watching the bundle of green bills inside the envelope. She lifted her eyes and looked in to the darkness where the strange, young man had disappeared, then turned her gaze back to the envelope. Her fingers slid trough the bills and her eyes widened even more, and she turned towards Milly who looked just as surprised.

"It…there must be at least twenty thousand in there" she quietly whispered. Milly nodded her head in disbelief, trying to gather her thoughts, which wasn't easy. Neither of them had ever seen such money in their entire lives, and now some man just simply walks up to them and simply gives such an amount away.

Milly looked at the darkness of night where the man had disappeared, worries evident in her eyes. "Lacus…I don't know if we should take it. I don't like it one bit, this might be some trick, or… I mean people don't give that kind of money away for nothing, I…"

"What do you mean by that kind of money?"

Both girls were startled and turned around frightened, to see who it was standing behind them. After few moments Milly calmed down and let out a loud sigh and walked forward the orange haired man and lightly punched his arm. "Don't scare us like that, Heine"

Said man smiled at her and bowed his head towards Lacus, who returned the gesture. "Sorry."

Lacus only shook her head, feeling happy to see a friendly face. "Good evening, Heine-san. Where is Tolle?"

Orange haired man shrugged and turned towards Milly. "Tolle said he had some important business, so he asked me to come and pick you two up, since he can't come. Don't worry, he is ok" he quickly added as he saw the worried expression on Milly's face.

Heine was the local police chief, one of the few policemen who really tried to make things better for the people. Tolle was his subordinate and best friend, and Milly's boyfriend, and he knew just how much the brown haired girl worried about her lover.

"More importantly" His gaze turned serious as he looked towards Lacus "what money were you two talking about?"

"Um…well…" Lacus started to tell her about the strange boy they had just met moments ago, and the strange envelope he had left them."

Heine's eye's narrowed as he heard about the unbelievable amount of money that some stranger had left behind him.

"This is very troubling indeed." He agreed, eyeing the envelope with suspicion "Did he mention his name?"

Lacus blushed slightly. "Um, yes. He was very kind towards me…he said his name is Kira." Lacus startled as she saw the expression of surprise on Heine's face. It troubled her. "Um…Heine-san, is there something wrong?" She extended her hand with the envelope towards Heine. "I…I shouldn't have taken it, right? Please, take…"

She was stopped by the sudden laugh coming from the orange haired boy. He looked back at Lacus and confused Milly with a smile on his face. "Don't worry, you should feel very lucky today, Lacus. Keep the money. I'm sure you will find a good use for it."

Lacus looked surprised then turned her gaze towards the envelope again. Milly looked in to Heine's eyes with disbelief. "You know this Kira person?"

Heine shook his head. "No, but I know a friend of his. Want to hear about him?" Both Lacus and Milly nodded instantly, a spark of excitement in their eyes. Who wouldn't be excited to find out something about a man that walks up to you and simply leaves abundant amounts of money?

Heine smiled at both girls and looked around to see if no one is listening. "You both know about the company 'Gundam OS', right?" Both girls nodded. Everyone knew about it. It was the leading (and only) company which developed a state of the art defensive system based on completely new technology and weaponry, as well as various other electronic devices. A lot of rumors were associated with that place, but no one knew anything for certain, because a lot of things about it were kept in secret. It was a company that had emerged only two years ago out of nowhere.

"Well then, you know what is the company owner's name?" Lacus shook her head, Milly looked like she was thinking about something. "Kira Yamato. He is only 19 years old" Both girls looked towards the police chief with widened eyes. Lacus was the first one to break the silence.

"You mean…the man just now was…?"

Heine nodded his head, placing his hands in his pockets, brief smile on his face. "Most likely"

Lacus was shocked, she stood there watching the envelope, thoughts rushing trough her head. _Why…why would someone like him extend a hand to me? Why would the owner of one of the largest companies give all this money to me? Why…"_

"But doesn't that mean he is involved with one of the gangs? Milly asked with suspicion "I mean, we all know that all companies and stores are paying taxes are providing other sort of things to them, so wouldn't that make him…"

Heine shook his head. "No. As strange as it might sound, this company is not involved with anyone and doesn't pay any taxes or anything of that sort to anyone".

Milly stared with disbelief "But how do they manage to avoid paying to Seiran or to Azrael?"

Heine shrugged his shoulders, looking back at the brunette. "I don't know. All I know is that they are not involved with the gangs in any way. They might be purchasing some equipment from them, but that is as far as it goes." Actually Heine knew more about this. It was not like the gangs didn't try to force their taxes on the company. But it never succeeded.

As far as he knew all the 'delegates' that either Seiran or Azrael sent to the place never returned. Alive anyway. Once he even saw himself a group of 20 people walking towards the 'Gundam OS' building at night, dressed in Striped black suits – the ones that Seiran's gang members wore. Heine was just passing by, so he had stopped and observed.

Much to his surprise a few minutes later three men in black coats had appeared in front of the building. One of them left and a few minutes later returned with a truck and the three started to load something that seemed like bodies in to the car with unbelievable ease – carrying two at once, one in each hand. When they had loaded about 20 bodies they all got on the truck and drove in to the darkness of night.

The next morning Heine got to work he learned that Seiran's summer house was wrecked by a truck that had crushed in to it, demolishing the larger part of the house. Ever since this incident he hadn't heard of any attempts from either gangs to 'collect taxes' from the said company. They were obviously frightened by the happenings. But this was not something Heine would tell to the girls.

Heine placed his hand on Lacus shoulder and smiled at her. "I suggest you hide that money and make sure no one else finds about it, ok? And don't spend too much at once, otherwise it could get suspicious. I assure you, you don't need to be afraid of the man that gave you this money, ok?" Actually he wasn't sure about this. But anyone that opposed the gangs was good in his book.

"Ok" Lacus exclaimed and looked at Milly with happiness in her face, though obviously still shocked from the recent events. "Milly, you understand right? We can actually fix the orphanage with this." _I wonder…is that what this Kira wanted me to do with the money? _The thought of the brown haired boy made her blush slightly, which didn't go unnoticed by Milly.

"Lacus, are you ok?"

"Um…yes, I'm fine" she exclaimed, feeling a bit embarrassed. _But he was kind of cute. _

"Anyway, we should get out of here, it's almost pitch black outside already. Come on you two, I'll drive you home." Both girls nodded and started to walk after Heine towards his car, one thinking about the strange happenings and the large amount of money they had so awkwardly gained, other thinking of one brown haired boy with purple eyes.

**XOXOXOXOX**

Athrun was leaning against the box, observing the happenings on the stage, and the two girls leaving with the orange haired man. _Heine…I'm glad you are still ok. _Athrun was glad to see the man accompanying both girls. He had become friends with the police chief during his two years of service. He was surprised that a man loyal to the country and not the gang leaders could remain in this position for so long. But Athrun was glad that he did.

He felt someone watching him and turned his head towards the dark figure beside him. "Kira…you think it was wise to give them so much money? I bet you gave them at least twenty thousand." Despite it being pitch black he could see Kira turning red.

"W…why not? I mean…they need it for the orphanage, isn't that a good cause?" Athrun sighed and turned his head towards the now empty stage and watched the lights in it being turned off.

"It's not that, Kira. I just hope they don't get in to trouble because of it" he turned his emerald eyes towards his friend. It seemed like the darkness is not bothering the two men at all. "You understand that, right?"

Kira nervously scratched his head and looked up at the dark sky. There was no moon tonight, dark clouds were preventing it from shedding its light down on this miserable city. "I…I just wanted to do something for them…for her…" he looked back at his friend "You…you think I shouldn't have?" there were doubts in his voice.

Athrun sighed again and raised his head, enjoying the cold breeze that had risen again rushing trough his dark blue hair. "Not really. Just make sure you keep a close eye on her just in case." A small grin appeared on his face "I'm sure you won't mind that."

Despite it being dark he could see his friend turning red as a boiled beet. Kira was about to answer but then he noticed something. "Athrun, where is Shinn?"

"Right here" a cold voice answered him from above. Both boys looked up and saw Shinn standing on the crate Athrun was leaning against. He jumped down silently and walked up to Kira and pressed a small wooden box in to his hands. Kira widened his eyes.

"This is…"

"Give it back to her next time you go to see her. You will do that, right? You better keep her safe with that money you gave her. It was quite careless of you. But it can't be helped now, right?"

Kira slowly nodded and kept staring at the little box that was taken by those three men from Lacus. He slowly raised his eyes and looked at Shinn's red eyes, which seemed to be almost glowing with anger. "Did you…?"

"Those bastards deserved it" Shinn announced with a cold voice.

Kira sighed and lowered his gaze. "Perhaps, but we agreed not to interfere directly, right?"

Shinn shrugged and looked towards Athrun who was just standing there silently. "I don't care. There are things I will not tolerate. Don't tell me you actually care what happens to these bastards that have led this country to the state it is in now?"

Athrun stood up and placed a hand on Shinn's shoulder "We understand. You know that, right? I'm not complaining about what you did, they deserved it. Right, Kira?"

The brunette sighed and looked at the small wooden box in his hands. "I guess so. But I don't like to handle things this way, you know that.

Shinn raised an eyebrow. "But that's exactly what you wanted to do when you saw them take away this box, right?" His hand clenched in to a fist, memories flooding his mind. "These bastards don't deserve anything better and you know that."

Kira couldn't help but agree with Shinn's words, no matter how cold and merciless they were. "I guess you are right. We all know that" Kira sighed and looked over his shoulder towards the dark city. _Yes, they indeed deserve that._ "Shall we go home?"

Athrun and Kira nodded, all three put on their sunglasses despite it being as dark as it can get and started to walk towards the city in the same rhythm, side by side, each resembling a shadow of another. Only thing that was different about the three was their hair, otherwise they looked exactly the same with the glasses covering their eyes. Darkness of night engulfed the three dark silhouettes as they swiftly marched towards the dark city, matching each others steps.

A/N:

So, what do you guys think about this, how does it look so far? I hope at least someone liked it. To those who are reading Follow Your Heart – don't worry, I'm not forgetting about it by no means :) Please R&R and forgive me about any grammar mistakes that I know are somewhere in there :P


	2. Chapter 2

A/N:

Thanks for all the nice reviews, really appreciate them. I'm glad you liked it, so here is the second chapter. I'm sorry it took so long to update, but I had some technical problems(again) and the school has started :S

_Special thanks to TheDarkSpirit182 for being the first one to face my horrid writing and grammar. So the rest of you can enjoy it some more._

Hehe, forgot to put up a disclaimer at the first chap…oh well (BTW does anyone actually care?)

DISCLAIMER : I don't own anything from GS/GSD

**XOXOXOXOX**

Athrun slowly opened his green eyes and winced from the bright light. Quietly muttering some curses under his nose he turned off the annoying alarm clock that had interrupted his sleep and looked at the time. It was 10am. The blue haired boy sighed and sat up in his bed while stretching. He hated mornings, even despite the fact that he actually got plenty of sleep more often than not.

He stood up and vacated his bedroom after making up his bed. After exiting his bedroom he turned left and proceeded down the hallway, passing three other rooms. He never knew why he had a total of four bedrooms in his home. It was not like he could occupy all four of them. Athrun walked towards the bathroom, located at the end of the hall, enjoying the feeling of his bare feet brushing against the soft, blue carpet covering the floor.

After ending his morning procedures and cursing over the little cut to his right cheek he gained while shaving he proceeded back to his room and opened his closet to pick his outfit for today. There was not much to pick from – the closet was filled with black pants and black shirts, few blue and green t-shirts aside. After getting dressed he got downstairs to the first floor and turned towards the kitchen.

After standing there for a few moments he realized that he is not feeling hungry today and decided to head to work straight away. He crossed the large guestroom, which occupied almost all the first floor and could easily get mistaken for a dance floor due to its polished, wooden floor, if it wouldn't be for the leather sofas positioned across the room.

After putting on his black shoes and coat he opened the door and stepped outside. He shivered for a few seconds while getting used to the cold weather outside, opposite of his warm and cozy house. Athrun raised his emerald eyes towards the crystal clear blue sky and sighed, after noticing his own breath. _It sure is getting cold. I wouldn't wonder if it would start to snow later on._

After hesitating a bit he decided he would walk to work instead of driving – after all it was not far and he decided that the fresh morning air would be good for him. Athrun looked over his shoulder towards the house and his eyes narrowed a bit, as if he would be focusing on something. After few moments he heard the electronic lock of the door closing, and a small, red light lit up on his watch.

Looking content with this the blue haired boy turned left and started to walk down the tidy sidewalk letting the cold wind brush against his face. After a while he passed another house that looked just like his, only difference was that this one had dark red curtains covering its large windows instead of dark blue ones. Athrun stopped for a moment and wondered should he snatch Shinn along the way or not.

He decided to let him sleep if that was what he was still doing and crossed the street, entering what seemed like a large park. Athrun frowned while walking forward the narrow stone path. All the trees and bushes had lost all their leaves and the usually colorful park now seemed lifeless, although fountains were still working, breaking the morning silence with the sound of a flowing water.

The blue haired boy stepped towards one of the fountains and placed his hand in to the icy water, causing small waves scatter across the surface. Athrun lifted his hand towards his lips and took a sip of the icy liquid. It refreshed him, he felt completely awake now. He wiped his hand in his coat's sleeve and proceeded towards the big, round building with large glass windows, which towered at least 15 stories high above the ground.

His sight traveled from the tall building towards some small houses that could be seen in a distance, towards a building that seemed like a large restaurant and finally…towards a high wall, stretching to both sides as far as he could see. Athrun smiled sadly and resumed his walk towards the large tower-like building, with golden letters "Gundam OS" above its entrance.

After the company was established Kira and him had decided to buy a piece of land around the main building – in the end the said piece turned out to be a nine square kilometer large, three kilometer in width and length. About ten month ago, after some 'incidents' with the syndicates the large wall was built around the property. It was 3.5 meters high, made from reinforced steel, processed with some other material developed by Kira.

Electric fence was located at the top of the wall with enough magnitude to kill a human should he touch it. Sounded a bit radical, but one could assume that no one had any business on top of the 3.5 meter high wall, and if someone was up there – he was up to no good anyway. It was like an island of peace in the middle of a raging ocean, which no storms could reach. Only one gate connected the small island and the rest of the city.

The large gate was located in the east wall and was heavily guarded. Just like the rest of the wall. It was guarded by guards that could not be bribed with anything - the newly developed defense net system which consisted of computerized defenses. All cars going trough the gate were fully scanned with the newest scanners available, searching for any weapons or explosives onboard.

If such things were located…well…the newly developed defense net system would activate and turn the car in to pile of rubble in matter of seconds. All along the wall and especially in front of the gate small metal circles could be seen on the ground. Should the need arise these small metal plates would slid aside allowing undersized gattling canons to appear and take action.

The best part of this defense net system was the fact that it can be directly controlled by human brainwaves, if one was given such authority - which ensured that no computer hacking could tamper with the system. And only three people had the authority to issue orders to the Gundam OS defense net. Basically this protected area around the Gundam OS had become the only safe zone in ORB.

Zone around the east wall was empty for the most part, only three identical houses were placed alongside the 3 km long wall, along with a local hospital and fire station. Living complex and some private houses were scattered along the north wall. Most of the employees that worked for the Gundam OS were living in the apartment buildings. The small private houses were occupied by various people with high status in society, or simply with thick wallets – people who didn't want to have anything to do with Seirans and Azraels and could afford to pay the rather large rent.

And many people did – there were enough rich people who would gladly sacrifice a part of their wealth to be able to live in this safe haven, secure from the grim reality that raged on the other side of the fence. The area beside the south wall was filled with shops, restaurants and other facilities that would satisfy the needs of inhabitants.

Middle area was basically a large park with lots of fountains and benches where people could sit during the summer. A small world born only ten months ago, a little island of relative peace where some people could forget the worries of their lives. Syndicates held no influence here.

This is how people would live in a normal world. Instead this was but a small box inside a container. And he hated it. Athrun hated the scenery of this little peaceful micro world that lied before him. It reminded him how fake this peace is. Tidy walkways and parks… happy people walking around the southern streets… this was but an illusion. World was not like this.

Each step outside this small cage reminded him that the world is not like that. The world outside was cruel and merciless. It took lives and homes of people without hesitation, happiness was almost non existent outside these walls. Cruel reality ruled outside that crushed everything in its path. Everything that was not covered by these walls, just as it had crushed his and his friends' childhoods.

Athrun clenched his hands in to fists, standing in front of the OS building, watching back on this small utopia. _If only we could expand these walls…_ he turned around and gazed up, eyeing the tall building, located at the centre of the large park. _But maybe some day they will expand_. His green eyes narrowed, sadness appeared on his young and handsome, yet harsh face.

Yes, the walls will definitely expand. Too much had been sacrificed already. There was too much suffering in this country for it to continue living this way. A lot of good men have died in their vein fight for a better tomorrow. But all was not in vein. After all, they were still alive, and as long they were here there was still hope. After all – the peak of all the efforts to stop the syndicates was still alive. And that man was also still alive.

Athrun sighed and helplessly lowered his head. Such grand dreams, yet all they could do was sit by in their sanctuary and watch as ORB gets slowly devoured of all its life. Their home was slowly dying along with the hopes and dreams of the people living in this nightmare they called home. But people still hoped. Still dreamed for better days to come... a dream considered lost by many. But it will come true.

Of that Athrun was sure. Just as his two friends. Only thing they didn't know is when. All they could do for now is sit by and watch for the most part. The grip of the Syndicates was too great… at least for now. Athrun turned around and entered the building, heading towards the reception desk. _Yes, only for now._

As he approached the reception his face had regained its normal appearance. He was ready to work again. It was not often such nostalgic thoughts crossed his mind, but everyone had their dreams and worked their best to achieve them. And that's what he had to do now – work.

"Good morning, Zala-kun". Athrun was greeted by the young man sitting behind the desk, cheerful expression on his face.

"Good morning, Youlan" Athrun slightly nodded his head towards the young man "Anything I should know?"

"Yes. Mr. Yamato said he is leaving for today because of some personal matters, so he asked for you to attend to the business meeting with the 'Gondova' company."

Athrun sighed. He hated to attend to business meetings. They usually were a waste of time and nothing more than talking over the facts that were already stated in the contract. The 'Gondova' was a network of banks across ORB and they were interested in purchasing the new defense net system for all their banks, which promised to be quite profitable. And Athrun could very well guess what the 'private matters' of his friend is, so he didn't mind to take Kira's place to help his friend.

"Oh, and another thing" A large grin appeared on Youlan's face.

Athrun raised an eyebrow "What's that?"

Youlan nodded his head in the direction of the waiting room. "You have a visitor"

Athrun didn't even have time to turn around when he heard someone running towards him from behind. He sighed as he felt two arms wrap around his neck.

"Athrun, sweetie, how are you today?"

The blue haired boy freed himself from the woman's grasp and turned around. "Nice to see you too miss Campbell." His expression sure didn't seem as happy as his words exclaimed.

The girl in front of him was quite beautiful. She had nice features and her pink, wavy hair reminded him of that girl Kira liked and most probably was visiting now. She wore a pink miniskirt that didn't reach her knees and black stockings, along with almost knee length brown boots. Her black jumper was a bit shorter than it should, reveal a bit of her slim waist.

_Doesn't she feel cold walking like this outside?_

The pink haired girl pouted and placed her hands on her hips. "Geez, what's with all the formality? Just call me Meer."

Athrun sighed and turned away annoyed look on his face. "I'm sorry, but I don't have the time to talk right now. I have a lot of work to do." With this phrase he turned away and started to walk towards the elevator, located at the far wall of the hall. Meer watched as the blue haired boy takes his leave with surprised look on her face for a couple of seconds, but then her cheerful smile returned and she quickly shuffled her feet and caught up to Athrun and clung to his arm looking up at him and smiling.

"You sure are a very liable man, Athrun. You always do your best and never let anything interrupt you, as should be expected from someone in such a high position." A curious expression appeared on her face. "What are you working on right now?"

Athrun turned towards her and looked in her blue eyes with a rather harsh glare. "Miss Campbell. That is not something I can discuss with anyone, and I have a meeting in an hour, so I really don't have time right now." The elevator arrived and Athrun stepped inside, not looking quite pleased with the fact that the pink hared girl followed him.

He sighed and moved his finger towards the button with a number 14 on it – his office was located on the 14th floor. Suddenly something caught his attention as his eyes traveled across the large mirror covering one fourth of the elevators cabin. He stared at the reflection of his own cheek with a tad of surprise for a second, before his composed look returned on his face, with a tad of satisfaction added to the mix when he didn't find the small cut he had received while shaving.

_I see. I guess the research data were correct after all. Who would have thought that …_ his thought were interrupted by Meer's voice "Oh, that's ok Athrun, I will go to the meeting together with you."

Athrun looked at the smiling girl with annoyance in his emerald eyes and freed his hand from her grip. "Look, this is an important meeting and ordinary people have nothing to do with it."

Meer pouted for a second "that was mean, Athrun" smile returned to her face "but don't worry – I asked my father and he said I could come. Oh, my father is the vice president of the 'Gondova', so he will be there as well, so see – I can come" She grabbed Athrun's arm again and obviously looked very content with the shocked look on the boys face.

Athrun's finger froze just before pressing the button and he looked at Meer in disbelief. He opened his mouth again and wanted to say that he won't let her come anyway, but stopped. _Damn…if her father is the vice president then he might consider it rude that I didn't let his daughter to come, and that could be bad for the deal, but spending at least two hours with her sitting next to me…_Athrun shivered a bit at the thought.

Well it was not like Meer was bad or anything. And Athrun had to admit she was quite pretty. But he didn't like her attitude – she was too loud and lively. Not that he would mind a girl being lively, but somehow to him Meer seemed lively in annoying way, and her constant talking tended to get on his nerves. It was pretty obvious that Meer had a crush on him.

But Athrun was not interested in her. That much was obvious to probably anyone but Meer herself. He was never interested in her during the two month she had been trying to get closer to him, ever since she and her family had moved in to live in the 'garden', as he and his two friends referred to this little haven they had created. As always the three friends had visited the new residents, and the young girl had showed interest in him from the first moment they met.

And now Athrun was stuck with a dilemma_. Damn, what should I do…? I can't just tell her off because that might affect the business in a bad way… but I sure don't want to spend that much time sitting beside her either. Damn._

Feeling a bit lost at what to do Athrun quickly slid his sight across the hall, as if hoping that a salvation of some sort would come. And it did. Trough the glassy doors he could see a figure of a man with black hair dressed in black approaching. An idea quickly formed in his mind, and he slid his finger down the panel and pressed 4th button. Shinn's office was on the fourth floor.

"Athrun, what's this?" Meer pointed towards a red button without any symbols on it, located just under the button 1st.

"That's nothing, it doesn't work right now, don't worry about it."

Meer pouted and looked like she was a bit offended "Come on, Athrun, why don't you tell me anything?"

Athrun looked back at her, a little annoyance appearing in his green eyes as well. "I told you it doesn't work, so please don't bother me about it Miss Campbell." He trailed off, looking at the red button. _This is not something that anyone should ever know… especially you._

Meer let go of Athrun's arm and crossed her hands on her chest, giving Athrun an offending look. "That was rude, Athrun. That is not how you talk to a lady."

The blue haired boy just rolled his eyes and stepped out of the elevator which had stopped at the fourth floor and took the right turn and started to walk down the hallway, Meer closely following him. He stopped at one door that said 'Asuka Shinn'. Athrun quickly stroke a few keys on the small panel located near the door it opened. He turned his gaze towards Meer.

"I'm sorry, but you can not come in here, I have some work to do, it would be best if you leave now." With that he stepped inside the office and closed the door behind him, leaving the obviously confused Meer behind him.

The pink haired girl stood outside without moving for a few seconds, disbelief showing in her widened eyes. Then she finally sighed and sat down on a chair near the cabinet's door. _Geez, how rude... leaving a girl just like that, what is his problem. _Her face lit up a bit. _But it can't be helped he must be very busy right now, so his mind must be occupied with work. I'll just wait here until he comes out, then we can go to the meeting together._

"Athrun-san, I will just wait for you here, that way we can both go to the meeting, okay?" She decided to take the silence as a 'yes' and laid back I the chair, closing her eyes and starting to hum a quiet song.

Athrun sighed and heavily fell in to Shinn's chair behind the desk. _Damn, I just hope Shinn will agree to this. He hates meetings a lot more than I do._ He slid his fingers trough his dark blue hair and sighed again. _Why can't she understand that I am not interested in her? Why can't she just stop following me around like this. I hope that Shinn gets here soon._

Elevator door opened and Shinn stepped outside and slowly started to walk towards his office, head bowed down, clutching a bouquet of blood red roses in his hand. The look on his face showed that he was deeply sad about something. His eyes were not focused on anything in particular.

"Oh. Good morning Mr. Asuka."

These words, said in a cheerful voice made him lift his head and look forward. After few seconds he slightly bowed and continued to walk towards his office, near which Meer was sitting, looking at him with a bright smile on her face. His red eyes narrowed a bit. He didn't like Meer. One might go as far as to say he hated her.

He hated her for always being so noisy, for trying to talk to everyone, even when it was clearly seen that the person does not want to speak right now. He hated how she was always in this building whenever Athrun was here, following him around. Her mere presence annoyed him, and he showed it on certain occasions, but Meer didn't seem to mind Shinn's rudeness.

Which annoyed him even more – it was as if she didn't understand when it's time to stop bugging someone. And there was no reason for him to tolerate the girl, it was hard for him to suppress the urge to throw her out and forbid her from entering this building again. He could try to tolerate her if Athrun would actually like her, but it was dead clear that he didn't, he was just too polite to show it as clearly as the raven haired boy.

"Miss Campbell, why are you here?" His voice was cold, as was the look in his eyes he gave her, but she didn't seem to notice it.

"I'm just waiting for Athrun. He is very busy" She pointed to the door beside her "he is in there right now."

Shinn raised an eyebrow. _Why would Athrun be here now? Well, ill just ask him, it's not like I want to talk to this girl more than necessary. _He stepped past her and turned the handle on his cabinet's door, but turned her head back when he heard Meer clasp her hands.

"My, these are beautiful" Her blue eyes were sparkling as she watched the rose bouquet in Shinn's hand. She looked up, catching a glimpse of Shinn's surprised red eyes. "Are they for your girlfriend?" She asked with excitement in her voice.

Shinn's eyes narrowed, his hand clinched the bouquet tighter and started to shake lightly, slightly grinding his teeth, looking at Meer, anger radiating from his blood red eyes.

Despite the fact that she usually didn't mind Shinn, this time Meer backed away a bit, feeling a bit frightened at the sight of Shinn being this angry. It was obvious to her she had said something she shouldn't have. "I…I'm sorry" was all she said, bowing her head in an apologetic manner.

After watching her for few moments with clear disgust and anger Shinn turned away with a loud hiss and entered his office without looking back at her. As expected his red eyes spotted Athrun sitting behind his desk looking back at him. Shinn slowly nodded his head and walked up to his desk, still looking pretty annoyed, which didn't go unnoticed by Athrun.

"Shinn, are you ok?"

Said boy nodded his head "Why is she here?" his voice sounded kinda harsh. Athrun only sighed and leaned back in the chair. He knew the dislike Shinn had for Meer, so he was expecting this question. "It's damn obvious you are not interested in her, so why don't you just say it to her if she is too dumb to see it on her own? I can't stand her and her yapping, and I see no reason for her being her at all!"

Athrun raised an eyebrow at Shinn's heightened voice. _She must have really said something to anger him this time._

"Look, Shinn" Athrun spoke up in his usual calm voice "I know I should just tell her, but I don't want to be rude to her. She means no harm. And I thought that the fact that I show no interest in her for two months should be enough of a hint for her. But I promise to talk to her about this." He quickly added as he noticed Shinn's eyes narrowing. After all he had a favour to ask of him, and making Shinn upset right now was not in his best interests.

Before he could continue the black haired boy beat him to it "Alright, since you are here means you want something from me. What is it?"

Athrun sighed at this straight forward question. _Might as well get to the point, he wont like it one bit, but…_ He raised his emerald eyes and looked up to Shinn. "Shinn, it's…"

**XOXOXOXOX**

Outside the door Meer pouted and looked angrily at the closed door. _Why can't they be nice to me? Especially Athrun, I'm trying so hard, but he doesn't even notice me. _A small grin appeared on her face. _But he will be. I'm sure he will in time._ She sighed and turned around. She knew Athrun probably won't be coming out for a while, so she decided to go back and stay in the waiting room, until Athrun appears.

She entered the elevator and looked around, then slowly pushed the red button on the panel, tensing as she expecting something to happen. After a few moments nothing happened and Meer sighed and pressed the 1st button, and just as the elevator door closed her cell phone rang. She took out her pink phone and answered the call.

"Hello, this is Meer speaking, who am I speaking to?" she asked in her cheerful voice, seemingly happy that someone was willing to call her.

"Have you anything to report?" a cold male voice could be heard at the other end of the phone. The naïve look disappeared from Meer's face and was replaced by a serious one, her blue eyes displaying no more childlessness.

"Yes, Sir" Her voice suddenly sounded cold as well "I have managed to…"

**XOXOXOXOX**

"Fine, fine, just stop begging, you look like an idiot begging for me to go just because you don't want to meet that girl there." Said Shinn, being somewhere between angry and amused at Athrun's request.

The blue haired boy raised an eyebrow. "That was pretty harsh. But thank you."

"The meeting is in three hours, right?" Shinn asked, while looking at the clock. Athrun nodded. "Good, then I should get going. I still have to visit someone." His voice suddenly sounded sad, and his expression had gained a distanced look.

Athrun eyed Shinn with curiosity about this sudden change, but his features also darkened when he noticed the bouquet of roses in Shinn's hand. "Are you going to…?" he asked in a silent voice, without finishing the sentence.

"Yes…" Shinn answered, lowering his red eyes. He lift his hand and wiped away a tear that had formed in his left eye before lifting his head again. "You know that Meer is probably waiting for you to appear downstairs, right? How do you intend to get out of here without running in to her? I assume you don't want that."

This question struck the blue haired boy dumb, as he hadn't thought about it up until now. He looked around the office, as if looking for something. He froze as he looked over his shoulder, and a small grin slowly appeared on his face.

Shinn widened his red eyes, as he followed Athrun's sight. "You are kidding, right?" He sighed heavily when he saw Athrun's grin widening. "Anyway, I am not carrying you to hospital just because you can't gather yourself to tell that girl to get off your case. Going to that meeting is all I am going to do." With that Shinn left his office while shaking his head, as he headed towards the elevator. _Idiot._

Athrun sighed at himself as Shinn left the room and walked towards the window and opened it, filling the room with chill air. He stood there for a few moments, closing his eyes, enjoying the feeling of harsh, cold autumn winds brushing against his face. He liked this feeling. He opened his eyes again and looked down, eyeing the leafless bushes and trees surrounding the building.

_I am acting like an idiot, right? I should just tell her to lave me alone._ Athrun sighed heavily and looked around. As far as he could tell there were no people anywhere near the building. He didn't want to talk to Meer right now. Especially concerning her obsession with him. He just wanted to take a walk outside, under the clear sky, feeling the chill air surrounding him.

Athrun took out his sunglasses and put them on, made sure his gun is in its place and pushed aside another thought that he is acting childish and looked straight down. _4th floor huh…? I don't think I have tried this before._ A small, confident smile barely appeared on his face. _But everything he had said has been true up until now, and I doubt that he has made a mistake about this one either. _

He placed his right leg on the windowsill and quickly examined the surroundings, making sure that no one will see him. Satisfied with his observations Athrun took in a deep breath and after a second of hesitation his feet left the windowsill and he felt ground quickly approaching, sharp gusts of wind whistling around him, his black coat fluttering behind him.

He landed rather gracefully, kneeling down on one knee, wincing a bit from the pain that could be felt in his heels. But it was nothing serious. He quickly stood up and left the scene as nothing happened, looking over his shoulder at the window he had just jumped from, smiling a sad smile. _You are right as always…. _Athrun started to walk towards the nearest wall in a steady pace.

The pain in his heels was gone. He looked at his hand and clinched it in to a fist. _I hope you will find that answer as well… soon. Then you can finally rest. _When he was few meters away from the wall he looked around again to make sure that no one was nearby. Athrun increased his speed, starting to jog. When he was about one meter away from the wall he tensed his leg muscles and jumped in to the air at seemingly impossible strength.

He barely made it across the high wall, his cloak almost touching the electrical fence on top of it. Still he landed with feline grace, quickly eyeing his surroundings for any human presence. Once he had almost landed on some unlucky bystander when jumping across the wall. Rather luckily for him the man had fainted and Athrun had simply hurried away.

Satisfied with the fact that there was no one in sight Athrun shuffled his feet and started to walk towards the city. Much like Shinn he liked to simply stroll around the city. If not anything else, it kept reminding him about his hatred towards the syndicates, because the results of their activities could be seen almost everywhere. Athrun sighed and lowered his head, walking forward without actually watching, hands placed in his coat's pockets.

_I hope this will end soon. It has been one year, and we have come this far. _Thoughts about a certain button in the elevator appeared in his mind. A dark hallway stretching forwards, disappearing in to darkness. A large steel door at the end of it… and behind that door…

Athrun's hands clinched in to fists, his eyes narrowed, something that seemed to resemble guilt and sorrow appeared in his emerald orbs, covered from the world by the black shades. _I'm sorry that you have to endure this. But it will ensure the end of all this. It has to. _

He took another turn around a corner, but his thoughts were cut short when he bumped against something, and a quiet "ouch" was heard. Athrun lift his head cursing at himself for not paying attention where he is going. The person he had bumped in to apparently had lost her balance. The girl was sitting on the pavement, rubbing her backside, pained expression on her face.

She looked young, her scarlet hair was hanging down in two pigtails at shoulder length. Before Athrun could say something she lifted her head and looked at him, obviously frightened look in her salty-blue eyes. "I…I'm terribly sorry. I just didn't look where I am going, I'm terribly sorry, please, I didn't mean to." She was stammering, her voice slightly trembling.

Athrun was surprised at her reaction. _Why is she apologizing? I was the one who wasn't looking where I'm going. Why does she look so frightened?. _Although he had to admit he certainly didn't look friendly dressed in his black clothes, sunglasses covering his eyes. He took another moment to examine the girl in front of him. It was obvious she was not from the higher society. Quite the opposite.

The blue jumper she wore looked rather old. the wool it was made from seemed rather rumpled. Her black trousers, just as her shoes seemed worn quite a bit. Before Athrun could say something another girl appeared around the corner and kneeled down beside the first one, and placed a hand around her shoulder, holding a humble bouquet of flowers in the other. The second girl had wine colored hair that enclosed her face.

Her dark green jacket and grey pants also seemed to be quite worn. She shifted her head and looked at Athrun with her big eyes, which were the same color as the first girl's, also worried look on her face. "I'm so sorry, my sister didn't mean to do that, we are terribly sorry, sir"

Athrun felt a bit shocked and sad at the reaction of these two girls. He sighed unhappily and kneeled down, a small and sad smile on his face, and reached a hand towards the red haired girl. Both girls looked scared at his action, the red haired one even closed her eyes, as if expecting something bad to happen, and the seemingly older sister tightened her grip on the younger one, despite the evident fear in her eyes.

"Please…she didn't mean any harm, she…"

Athrun slowly shook her head. _Why are they so frightened?_ The answer to that seemed quite obvious. There were probably a lot of people who wouldn't let this slip by and would take the chance to insult, or even do something more to the girls in such a situation. _No wonder people are afraid to even walk around the streets…_

Ignoring the frightened look on their faces Athrun placed his hand behind the redhead's shoulder and carefully pulled her up to her feet from the ground, after which he removed his hand from her back. He could feel her flinch the moment he touched her. She opened her eyes and looked at the blue haired boy with interest and confusion, as did the other girl who apparently was the first ones sister.

He bowed his head towards the red haired girl, which seemed to cause even more confusion in the two. "I apologize. I was the one who was not looking. I hope you are not hurt." Seeing that the red head only slowly shook her head, still seemingly surprised, Athrun bowed again and continued his walk, looking over his shoulder towards the red haired girl before disappearing around the corner, continuing his aimless walk. Thinking about the weird encounter he just had.

"Meyrin, are you ok?" Luna asked her younger sister, who was still looking at the corner around which the blue haired boy dressed in black had disappeared. Her sister nodded, stroking her pants with her had, to remove the little bit of dirt that had settled there from her sitting on the ground.

"Y…yes, I'm ok. I didn't expect that man to be nice. He looked scary".

Luna nodded, then slowly turned around and started to walk away, signaling Meyrin to come along. They both slowly started to walk in the opposite direction.

**XOXOXOXOX**

Kira was standing next to his car, looking across the street, pained look in his purple eyes, covered by his sunglasses. The sight that appeared in front of him made him feel depressed. He sighed and stepped across the empty street and stopped in front of a small gate, which had a small metal plate attached to it, with severally faded letters on it. Archangel Orphanage.

He slowly pushed the gate open with a rather loud creak and slowly started to walk towards the old house, while observing his surroundings. The small path he was walking on was laid with flat stones and was kept tidy. The small area around the orphanage was surrounded by an old wooden fence that seemed to be barely holding together at most parts – the boards were mostly rotten or otherwise damaged.

Broken swings could be seen under what seemed to be a large, leafless oak-tree, located in the middle of the yard. Despite it being cold outside there were several children playing in a large sandbox, located further in the yard, their voices filling the cold autumn air. Kira took of his sunglasses and eyed the building with compassionate look.

It was an obviously old, wooden house, two stories high, with slate covering the roof. It was impossible to determinate its original color, whatever that would happen to be. Now it looked something in between grey and dark green. It reminded Kira of old moss. The building seemed to be in a critical condition.

Kira removed his sunglasses and placed them in his pocket, letting his purple eyes examine the building more clearly. As his eyes traveled across the building his features softened, leaving him with a sad and wistful look on his young face. _Twenty thousand…I don't think that even that can save this place… _

He slowly approached the building, noticing that few children quickly disappeared around the corner as soon as he turned his head to side. He smiled sadly and hesitated a bit before entering. He turned the handle of the door and stepped inside, wooden planks creaking under his feet, bending inwards under his weight. The house was indeed in a bad shape.

The brown haired boy took in a deep breath and was about to call out to get anyone's attention, when he suddenly heard loud voices from down the hall. One sounded like a woman. His purple eye's narrowed and he put down a small wooden box that he was carrying on the nearby table, and quickly advanced towards the hallway, floor no longer creaking under his feet.

"I told you, I don't know anything about it. Now please let me go!" followed by a low yelp was the things he heard from the room to his left. Kira flattened himself against the wall and carefully looked around the doorpost. A young girl with brown hair dressed in sleeveless orange dress was sitting on a couch, looking up to two men with a frightened look in her eyes. Apparently one of the men had just pushed her down there.

…_Mirialia…?_

"Don't lie to us!" one of the men hissed "our friends never came back yesterday, and we know that you and that pink haired friend of yours were talking to some strange man. Now for the last time – what happened there? Where are my men?"

Kira's eyes narrowed even more, leaving only shallow slit's open. Apparently these men had come to find the three men that had come to 'collect' the money to the concert yesterday. Not that there was much to find. Knowing Shinn their corpses were probably now at the bottom of the port.

"I'm telling you – I don't know. Please leave me alone."

"Why you…" one of the men stepped closer to Mirialia and lifted his hand, as if preparing to hit her. The girl turned her head to side and closed her eyes, preparing for the blow, trembling slightly. This made Kira to quickly interfere. After all it was pretty much his fault these men were here now. He swung around the corner and entered to room, his hand reaching inside his pocket.

Realization hit him at the same moment – his gun was not there, just as his knife. Apparently he had left them in his car. Kira cursed under his breath at his own imprudence and quickly lunged forward, grabbing the man's arm and stopping it in the air.

Both of the men looked at him with wide eyes, apparently shocked by his actions. "Who the hell are you?" the man whose hand he was holding growled.

Kira shot a quick glance over his shoulder towards Mirialia, who gasped at the sight. "You…"

"Quick, get out of this room" Kira said in a stern voice looking her in to the eyes. "Quickly!" he almost shouted when Milly just sat there looking at him. This made her move and the brown haired girl speedily stood up and vacated the room, completely ignored by the two men. The strange youngster in black now held their attention.

Seeing that the boy was probably not their friend they decided to act. Kira let go of the man's left arm he had been holding and jumped back just in time to dodge the knife the man held in his other hand. His eyes shot a quick glance towards the other one and noticed the gun pointed at him.

Mirialia couldn't stop a small scream escaping her lips as she ran down the hallway, when two gunshots loudly echoed through the air.

**XOXOXOXOX**

Tears were gathering in Shinn's red eyes as he kneeled down in front of a white gravestone with a figure of an angel carved in to it, placing a bouquet of roses in front of it with trembling hands. He remained in this position for a while, breathing heavily, clutching the pink seashell in his left hand.

His right hand slowly trailed down the gravestone, his fingertips touching the angelic figure, before sliding over some letters carved in to the stone. _Stellar Loussier my beloved blonde Angel. _He bowed down his head, no longer holding back the tears that started to stream down his cheeks, landing on the hand that clutched the seashell tightly to his chest.

"Stellar…" His voice was filled with pain, his features resembled someone who just had an heart attack. "I swear…I will find them…I will… And when do…ill make them pay for this. For doing this to you…" His voice had gained a tone of calm anger and sounded cold. Shinn took in another deep breath before running his fingers across the name tag again.

_Flashback_

_Two youngsters walked down the street, holding hands and happily looking at each other. One was a young boy with raven black hair and red eyes that almost gave him a demonic appearance that could easily scare people. But the blonde girl with magenta eyes didn't seem to mind at all._

_The loving gaze she was sharing with the boy clearly stated that she found this young man anything but scary. The pair stopped and Shinn embraced Stellar, placing his hands around her slim waist and looked in to her eyes._

"_I hope you enjoyed the dinner, Stellar."_

_The girl nodded and gazed in to the boy's red eyes with sparkling eyes and spoke in a soft, almost childish voice. "I did. Thank you so much, Shinn. This is the best birthday I have had."_

_Shinn smiled slightly brushed his nose against hers making the girl giggle slightly, before placing a soft kiss on her warm lips. They broke apart and the blonde started to twirl around moving forward and giggling. Shinn walked behind her, watching his angel with a shining face, wide smile resting on his lips. This girl was everything that mattered to him. _

_He never knew his real family, he was an orphan. He never knew the warmth of love in his life, and the feeling to love someone back, until he had met this young girl with almost childish behavior and innocent nature. Not to mention he had never seen such beauty in his life before. She was everything to him._

_Suddenly two men came running out of the nearby alley, watching over their shoulders. One of them collided with the dancing Stellar and fell to the ground. A scream of pain and anger filled the air – the man was holding his leg tightly, growling in pain. A rusty metal tube he had fallen on to was piercing trough his leg, causing drops of blood to fall on to the ground._

"_Hey, you ok?" The other man asked the first one. His skin was tanned and he had wavy blond hair._

"_You idiot! Are you fucking blind?" The first man shouted in anger, glaring at his blonde friend. He tightened his hand around one end of the metal tube and with a loud roar pulled it out of the wound and slowly stood up, panting heavily and wincing in pain. _

_Anger burned deep inside his ice cold blue eyes when he turned his gaze towards Stellar, who stood there, obviously frightened. "You stupid woman!" the white haired man yelled and pulled out a gun and pointed it towards Stellar, Shinn's eyes widened in shock and fear. _

_Without him realizing it he had already started to run forward and when the man pulled the trigger, he had already positioned himself between his lover and the gun. He felt something hit his stomach, pain streaming trough his body, overloading his brain and he felt like losing consciousness. _

"_SHINN!"_

"_Idiot"_

_And another gunshot was the last things he heard before his mind gave in and he passed out on the pavement. _

_Slowly, he opened his eyes, wincing from the light that blinded him at first. Beeping sounds of equipment and the loud screams of sirens were the first things that registered in his mind. _

"_Doctor, he's waking up"_

"_Good, we will soon be at the hospital, most likely he will survive."_

_Shinn's vision slowly focused and he could make out the figure of a man in a green gown leaning over him. Apparently he was in an ambulance car, judging by the sound of sirens above him and the fact that he felt the car jumping at each bump on the road._

"_Doctor, we are losing her! We cannot get the bullet out without an operation! She has lost a lot of blood!"_

_At these words Shinn's numbness was gone in an instant, his head darted to side. At the opposite side of the car on a small pad laid his blonde angel, two nurses leaning over her. Her chest and blue dress was soaked in blood and apparently the doctors couldn't stop the red liquid from leaving her body._

_She was wincing in pain, tears rolling down her cheeks and staining the small pillow her head rested upon. Gasping for air she slowly turned her head to side and her eyes met Shinn's. A tortured smile slowly appeared on her face. She slowly lifted her trembling hand and moved it toward Shinn, across the car._

"_Doctor, she can't move. Doctor!" The elderly man only lowered his head and slowly shook it, never lifting his gaze."_

_Shinn slowly gathered the energy to move his arm, ignoring the pain in his stomach, and slowly moved it towards Stellar's trembling hand. She winced in pain again, her lips were moving in a silent motion, but no words escaped her mouth. She gasped again and her back arched a bit as another jolt of pain rushed trough her petite body. _

_Her magenta eyes closed, the tears stopped rolling down her pale cheeks and her hand fell to the ground, before Shinn managed to reach it with his own. Pain in his stomach was nowhere near the torturous agony that rose in his heart, tearing him apart, expressed in one desperate cry before his vision went black again._

_End Flashback_

Shinn stood up, wiping the tears away from his face with his coat's sleeve, feeling the numbness in his knee upon which he had been kneeling down on the cold ground. He took in a few deep breaths to calm down his heartbeat that had picked up the pace and tried to clear his mind from all these painful memories. _Stellar…I will avenge you, I swear it._

He hoped that the silver haired man was still alive. So that he could kill him himself, as slowly and painfully as possible. His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed a white, cold speck fall down on his nose. The black haired boy lifted his head and his gaze traveled across the grey sky. It had started to snow – the first sign that winter was here.

He trailed off, slowly sliding his gaze across the cemetery. It was filled with various gravestones, most of them looking fairly old and neglected, made from grey or black stone. Stellar's gravestone was the only one that was as white as the snow that was falling from the sky. His attention was caught by two girls standing in front of a gravestone not far from him.

One of them had red hair, pulled up in two pigtails that made her look rather childish. She was holding her hand in front of her mouth, small tears falling from her salty-blue eyes. The other one was a bit taller, her pretty face was partially covered by her short, wine colored hair, almost covering the sad sorrowful expression on her face from Shinn's sight.

She was not crying, but it could be seen she is struggling to keep back the tears. The girl suddenly turned her head and their gazes met for a moment, her eyes was salty-blue, just like the other girl's and held a deep look in them. A bit of curiosity appeared on her face.

Realizing that he is staring at her Shinn quickly turned his head away and sighed. He shot one last glare at the gravestone of his lost love and slowly started to walk away, putting on his black sunglasses and placing his hands in the pockets.

"Nee-chan, who was he?" Meyrin asked, noticing that her sister was looking at the leaving man.

Luna slowly shook her head "I don't know. But he looked a lot like that other man you ran in to earlier." Luna looked at her sister and smiled softly. "Lets go, it is starting to snow, it will probably get a lot colder soon. We should find someplace where to spend the night." "Meyrin?" She asked again, seeing that her baby sister was crying again.

"Nee-chan…I don't know. I don't know if I can keep living like this." Meyrin broke down on her knees, covering her face with her hands.

Luna kneeled down beside her sister and placed a hand around her shoulders and pulled her closer. "Shhh. It will be alright. We have made it this far, right?"

Meyrin hugged her sister back, now crying on her shoulder. "How…how can this be right? What's the point of living like this? Why? What's the point of these last three years we have spent like this?"

"Meyrin, don't say that, please. I still have you, and you have me. Don't say such things." Luna was trying to hold back her tears as she spoke. She understood very well what her sister was saying. It was almost three years since they had a home. And it was almost two days since they had eaten anything. But she was used to it. Or rather she had learned to ignore it. It had become normal in their lives during the last few years.

But she had to be strong… for her sister's sake. "Shhh. It will be alright, lets go. We have to get something to eat as well."

Meyrin's head shot up, looking back at her sister. "No." She slowly began to shake her head "Please don't, Nee-chan. It hurts you too much. I know it does. Please, don't."

"Meyrin, it will be ok. Besides, we have to live on, right?" Luna asked, well aware that her voice was trembling slightly. A single tear fell down her cheek. This was the only way she could get any money in this cursed place. She felt disgusting about it. She had her pride after all. But no one can live on pride alone.

A lot of young women were forced to earn money this way, there simply were no other options. At least she could protect her little sister from such a fate, at least Meyrin could keep her dignity. She knew her little sister cried every time she resorted to this, but Luna would never let Meyrin do it. She would do anything to protect her sister from doing it. The fact that she is doing it was enough, there was no reason to taint Meyrin as well.

Both sisters slowly started to walk towards the town, Meyrin crying on Luna's shoulder.

**XOXOXOXOX**

A/N: Yes, crappy chapter, I know. Read, review and flame away.


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